A bid to address the shortage of women in aviation-related careers has been launched at Stansted airport.
Aviation minister Liz Sugg met with young female students at Stansted Airport College ahead of International Women’s Day and looked at the work the aiport does to encourage girls into aviation careers.
The minister, who is calling on the aviation sector to address the shortage of women in aviation-related careers, was welcomed by college students, visiting girls from Thaxted Primary School, and female apprentices and women on the airport owner Manchester Airports Group (MAG) graduate scheme.
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“Aviation employs more than 230,000 people across the UK, but it’s vital that the sector makes the best use of talent in this country,” said Ms Sugg.
“There are already some great initiatives underway to attract more women into the industry, but we need to do more. Last week I had the pleasure of seeing first-hand the work London Stansted does through its range of education programmes, which have helped inspire thousands of women and young girls over the last three years.
“Ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day, we are calling on the aviation industry to pledge action to address this gap.”
Stansted’ HR director Liz Austin said her organisation fully supported the government’s drive to increase the number of women in these roles.
“Stansted Airport College was created to build pipeline of future talent and works hard to promote the many exciting opportunities open to girls in aviation, from engineering to cabin crew. Along with our Aerozone education centre for younger children, we’re proud of the part London Stansted is playing in inspiring the next generation of the aviation workforce and look forward to seeing an increase in the representation of women in all sectors,” she said.
Stansted Airport College principal Karen Spencer said they had had an “amazing day”.
“With around only 8% of engineers and pilots being females it’s really important to work with girls from an early age to inspire them to think about aviation and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). All our young visitors left the building buzzing with questions and a desire to learn more.”
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